, 1887-06-21
reLeaRApn SCHOOLS FOR WOMEN.


An Incident in the Western Union Build
ing Gnseals an ola Operators Lips.
''Do you see that pretty girl walking
down Dcy s~tree,.' asked an old gay
haired operator recently in front of Tie
big Western Union building. "She was
just up stairs and applied for a SITUATE u.
As l. the custom she was taken to a side
table TO have her speed tested. The test
was not a very crucial one, but it was
enough TO tell her ability. When I saw
all the chiefs throwing pltying glances at
the girl, and she got up with her face
suffused with tears, l knew she had
made q dismal failure of it and had been
rejected on the ground of incompctency.
I'm a privileged character up stairs, you
know, and can do about what l please,
30 l followed the girl out to the elevator
and tried to cheer her up. Every day
one or two unsuccessful applicants are
turned away, and l generally resolve
myself into u committee Of one 10 SYM
pathize with them and get a chance to
come down here for an airing.
This girls story" continued the te-
legrapher, who on account Of his long
service is regarded as one of the fixtures
of the Office, varies little from the rest.
When / questioned her she dried her tears
and told me that three months ago she
had been a clerk in an uptown dry goods
store. Her mother, who is an invalid,
earned a little money by sewing, and be-
tween them they had managed to lay by
a few dollars. One day the girl saw
this advertisement in a morning paper:
"'Wanted-Three young ladies imme-
diately, on our lines, to learn telegla Apply
and take situations, S75 to 1925 monthly.
Apply to superintendent - Telegraph
company, --s street
We'll, =" said the operator, ..she was
lured on by that ad. ! suppose the pros
pect Of earning $125 a month was toe
bright to be ignored. Accordingly she
went to the school-we call them plug
factories,Eand in three months time
was sent forth a fuil1edged operator. A
situation was not found for her, but the
~iconoclastic professor said he would sec
his friend, the Western Union superin.
tendent, and all she would have to dc
was to take q 500 situation as a starter.
You see how she Jared. She now has
three months experience as q Geographic
student, has learned nothing practical
whatever, no position and no money,
while the professor adds another victim
to his long list. Why, do you know that
these fellows themselves cannot even dc
justice to a third class wire2 They can.
not earn q decent living here, so they re-
sort TO other ~methods-and get rich.
I've worked in every important office
from Maine to Frisco, and in all my
travels l never met a first class operator
whose origin could be traced to a plug
factory
Now, III tell you, " continued the old
timer as he CALAMITY lifted his hat and
smiled serenely at a bevy of check girls
who were tripping into the building and
shouting GOOD morning, daddy" al
hlm, 1.-THE telegraph business cannot be
learned in two or three months. One
cannot acquire a state of proficiency in
that space of time to become even a third
class operator. These plug factories
promise everything under the sun to gel
pupils. There is not an operator in this
ofice-600 all told who gets a salary OF
1925 per month. The average salary fol
first class operators is SIS per month.
No sinecure, is it? There may be some
that receive from 500 to S125, and prob.
ably more, but they are distributed among
the newspaper offices and press associa.
tons, and are all men of great reputation
INC of speed records.
uiJ 10 INC WOMEN ReJI wen, the
average salary is about $50 per month.
l never knew but three first class lady
operators in my life. One of them is in
Denver, another at Rochester, and the
third at Bridgeport, Conn. The two lat.
ter are employed by one of the big press
associations, whose wires are worked al
a killing pace, and even they don't re-
ceive any such fabulous salaries as the
professors advertise. Women can't stand
the strain on the nervous system, and
then they don't generally use the good
judgment required. The managers and
superintendent contend that it is a bust
ness for women only. To disprove that
you have only to go upstairs and see fol
yourself. All the heavy circuits are
manned by men, and they are not grad.
yates of plug factories, either. The fact
is, women can't work the heavy circuits.
They are not built that way, 1 suppose.
They do good work on the lighter cir
cults, but invariably become ratified
when put to work on a quadruplex OF
fast wire. There's one thing in favor Of
the girls, though. They all report for
duty on the morning following pay day,
and that's moro than l can say of some
Of the men. Now York Sun.